The newest movie by Jan ("Kolya") Sverak, and his screenwriter father Zdenek Sverak, is defiantly old-fashioned: a World War II romance that sends us soaring skyward, then crashing back to earth. With deep sympathy and a little schmaltz, Sverak portrays the Czech contingent of the British RAF during the Battle of Britain, and a love triangle story about two young best-buddy Czech fliers (Ondrej Vechty and Krystof Hadek) who fall in love with the same Englishwoman (Tara Fitzgerald). The film mixes unashamed kitsch, thrilling airfight scenes and dark historical drama. But what gives it a special charge is its portrait of the Czech RAF group: what happened to them before, during and after the war. Czech, English and German, subtitled. R. 1:59.-- M.W.

Dinner Rush (star)(star)(star)1/2

"Dinner Rush," the first screenplay by Chicago advertising and comedy writers Rick Shaughnessy and Brian Kalata, is conflict-driven, and almost all the action is limited to the interior of the restaurant on a busy winter night. With Danny Aiello. R. 1:40.-- J.P.

Gosford Park (star)(star)(star)(star)

Robert Altman is the master of ensemble movies and "Gosford Park" is one of his best: an Agatha Christie-style country manor murder-mystery set among the British upper classes in 1932, on a shooting party weekend. Working with a witty, probing Julian Fellowes script and dozens of the best British movie actors -- Kristin Scott Thomas, Maggie Smith, Alan Bates, Emily Watson, Derek Jacobi, Michael Gambon and Helen Mirren to name just a few -- Altman transports us to another world. R. 2:17.-- M.W.

Directed and co-written by Jessie Nelson ("Corrina, Corrina"), "I Am Sam" pushes typical message-movie buttons: Sam (Sean Penn), its lovable, childlike hero with a mental age of 7, is the perfect father and the perfect victim. An admirer of The Beatles and "Green Eggs and Ham," Sam also has a brilliant 7-year-old daughter named Lucy whom the state is trying to wrest away; the movie is about his struggle to keep his child, with the aid of flashy pro bono attorney Rita Harrison (Michelle Pfeiffer). Sometimes annoying, sometimes deeply moving, it's an often formula-riddled tearjerker that nevertheless draws honest tears. Penn is remarkable and Pfeiffer, Dianne Weist and Richard Schiff exemplary. PG-13. 2:12.-- M.W.

In the Bedroom (star)(star)(star)(star)

This fine, chilling American movie drama charts a string of awful events triggered by Frank Fowler (Nick Stahl) and Natalie Strout (Marisa Tomei). Theirs is a class-crossing romance with a stinger: Natalie has a jealous husband, Richard (William Mapother). The central characters, though, are not these young lovers but Frank's parents, played by Tom Wilkinson and Sissy Spacek. When Richard spins out of control and Frank is killed, the Fowlers have to face not only the loss of their well-loved son, but the probability that Richard will only serve time for manslaughter. R. 2:18.-- M.W.

Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius (star)(star)(star)

Effervescent and buoyant, this children's animation feature is an entertaining, superior piece of pop art. The movie's setting is Retroville, an idealized suburban wonderland of genteel, placid surfaces, and the hero, Jimmy (voiced by Debi Derryberry), is a gadget-loving kid who ends up battling parent-snatching aliens. G. 1:30.-- P.M.

K-PAX (star)(star)(star)

Kevin Spacey plays a seemingly delusional man who claims to be a visitor from a distant planet, and Jeff Bridges plays his harried but compassionate psychiatrist in this not especially imaginative movie. PG-13. 2:00.-- M.W.

Kate & Leopold (star)1/2

An oppressively cute Manhattan time-travel romantic comedy that's lost in time, space and cliches. Stars Hugh Jackman as Leopold, an urbane aristocrat-inventor from 1876, and Meg Ryan as Kate, a harried focus group consultant from 2001. PG-13. 2:01.-- M.W.

Kung Pow:

Enter the Fist 1/2 star

Going where Woody Allen's "What's Up, Tiger Lily?" went before, writer-director Steve Oedekerk dubs new dialogue into the 1976 kung fu flick "Tiger & Crane Fists" -- but does Allen one better by digitally inserting himself into the film. The difference? Allen's film is funny. Opened Jan. 25 without screening in advance for critics; full review ran in Saturday's Tribune. PG-13.-- R.E.

Lantana (star)(star)(star)1/2

Australian director Ray Lawrence's first movie since 1986's "Bliss" comes on like a murder-mystery but proves to be something far richer: a meditation on fidelity in marriage. With Anthony LaPaglia. R. 2:00.-- M.C.

The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (star)(star)(star)(star)